Combined guide and work-holding device for folding machines



I c. F. ALTHOUSE. COMBINED GUIDE AND WORK HOLDING DEVICE FOR FOLDING M APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, I918.

JPnted May 116, 1922.

ACHINES.

NETEB STATES oasi CHARLES F. ALTHOUSE, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO LORENZ IVIUTHER, OF NEWTON, IVIASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINED GUIDE AND WORK-HOLDING DEVICE FOR FOLDING MACHINES.

Application filed May 8, 1918.

'To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. AL'rrIoUsE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and Improved Combined Guide and Vork-Hold ing Device for Folding Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawlngs.

This invention relates to folding machinesand more particularly to a combined guide and work holding device for folding machines.

The main object of my invention is to provide means in a folding machine for guiding the work in its progress through the machine and for holding the work down without retarding its movement. 7

Another object is to provide a device which maintains a continuous yielding engagement with the work so that when a seam or other bulky part of the work passes under the device, it will yield to permit the thicker portion of work to pass forward without interruption.

An additional object of the invention is to provide means for eliminating all friction between the holding means and the moving work in order to facilitate the passage of the work without scraping its surface or, if it be cemented, without removing the coating of cement or other adhesive.

A- further object is to provide a device which will retain the edge of the work in a position where the instrumentalities of the folding machine can operate to the best ad vantage and thereby improve the work performed by the machine.

Other objects of my invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically described hereinafter.

Briefly described, my invention contemplates a combined guide and work holding device adapted to be adjustably fastened in operative position upon a folding machine. The device is provided with means for serving as a guide for the edge of the work as it passes through the machine and with means for yieldingly engaging the edge of the work to hold it down in operative position, to facilitate the folding operation.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure 1 is an isometric view of a Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1922.

Serial No. 233,224.

device constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of a portion of a folding machine showing the device in operative position on the machine; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the same looking from above; Fig. 4 is a sectional view on l' 1e l st in Fig. 2 looking from left to right; Fig. 5 is an end elevation of the device on an enlarged scale and Fig. 6 is a plan view of the same on an enlarged scale.

For the purpose of illustration I have shown one embodiment of my invention as applied to a folding machine of the type shown and described in an application filed by William F. Lautenschlager, June 21, 1911, Serial No. 63 1 185 for folding inachines, but it is to be understood that my in vention may be applied to other folding machines of various forms of construction.

In the drawings 10 designates a portion of the work-plate of a folding machine, 12 being the movable blade of a snipping device which cooperates with a fixed blade 1% to snip the edge of the material before it is turned over by a plow or turning device 15. The fold-presser is designated at 16 and a presser-foot for holding the material between the intermittent feeding movements is designated at 18; 20 representing a feed roll. All of the foregoing parts are of well known construction and set forth merely for purposes of illustration.

Referring now to the preferred embodiment of my invention, 24: indicates a plate of any suitable form, provided with a slot 26 which permits the. plate to be adjustably secured by a screw 28 to the work-plate ll) of the folding machine. Upon one side of the plate is a right angled extension or arm 30 having an upturned end 32 provided with a vertical slot 34:. The arm 30 is slightly elevated above the plane of the plate 24 so that its end may rest upon the plate 14- in the folding machine, which permits the end 32 to act as a gauge against which the edge of the material, passing through the machine, may be held. The arm 30 may obviously be made in various forms.

In order to hold the edge of the work downwardly so that the snipping device may 1 cut or slit the edgeevenly without bending it prior to the turning operation, I provide yielding means normally in engagement with the edge of the work, the preferred. form of which is a roll 36 rotatably mounted on the end of a spring 38 secured to the plate in any suitable manner, either by soldering, brazing or otherwise. It is pref erable to have the roll engage the edge of the work at the point where the upturned end 32 of the arm 30 serves as a gauge and for this reason, and also to prevent lateral displacement of the roll due to friction with the edge of the work, the spring 38 is located in the slot 34-.

The operation of my device is simple. The plate is first adjusted insuch position on the work-plate 10 of the folding machine that the upturned end 32 of'the arm 80 will actas a gauge for the edge of the material to be folded. The plate is then secured in that position by means of the screw 28. The material to be folded l0 is then placed on the work-plate 10 with the edge to be folded in engagement with the upturned end 32 as a gauge and is pushed forwardly by hand, the edge passing under the roll 36 as shown in Fi l, until it is gripped by the feeding inst-nimentalities of the machine, whereupon the 'material is then fed automatically by the operation of the machine. As the material moves forward the operator keeps the edge in constant engagement with the end 32 and the pressure of the spring 38 presses the roll 36 downwardly holding the edge of the work down upon the work plate of the machine. then a seam in the material, which, of course, is thicker than the single thickness of material, passes under the roll it raises sufiiciently to permit the seam to pass under it without retarding the progress of the work.

It is to be observed that by the use of my device, the edge of the work a-ta point just in front of the slitting means is held down flat upon the table with the result that the movable cutting blade of the slitting means may make a clean cut. It is desirable that the edge of the work at this point be held flat because if it curls up at all the knife is apt to bend the edge over during the slitting operation and make an. irregular or short cut or slit by without cutting.

Another advantage of my invention is that the means provided for holding the work down is rotatable which prevents any injury to the cemented edge and any sticking of that edge to t-he holding down means. By having these means resilient and yieldable to pressure, material of varying thickness can be taken care of without any adjustment and thick seams can pass under the roll without retarding or slowing down the progress of the work through the machine.

t is to be noted that my invention may be embodied in other constructions thanthat herein shown and described and I'desire to claim it broadly except where specifically limited in the following claims.

What I claim is 1. A combined guide and work holding device for folding machines having, in com bination, a plate provided with a slot whereby it may be, adjustably mounted on a folding machine adjacent the folding instrumentalities, a narrow forwardly projecting arm carried by said plate, said arm having its free end, turned upwardly to serve as a guide for the edge of the material as it is fed through the machine, said up-' wardly turned end being provided with an open vertical slot, a spring wire mounted at one end on said plate and having its free end projecting through said slot and a roll loosely mounted on the free end of said spring wire and adapted to engage, the edge of the work forholding it down.

2. A combined guide and work holcing device for folding machines having, in combination, a plate provided with a slot whereby it may be adjustably mounted on a folding machine adjacent the folding instrumentalities, a narrow projecting arm carried by said plate, said arm having its free end turned upwardly at a right angle to serve as a guide for the edge of the material as it is fed through the machine, said upwardly turned end being provided with a vertical slot, a springwire mounted at one end on said plate and having its free end projecting through said slot and verticallymovable therein and a roll loosely mounted on the free end of said spring wire for resiliently holding down the edge of the work.

In witness whereof, Ihereunto set my hand this i day of May, 1918.

CHARLES F. ALTHOUSE. 

